The present invention relates to a home network, and more particularly to a method for supporting continuous data transfer destined for an MS (Mobile Station).
In modern society, MSs (Mobile Stations) are necessities of life that users carry at all times irrespective of places such as offices, homes, etc. MSs serve as core devices in a high-technology field with the convergence of various functions capable of reproducing and storing multimedia such as MP3 (MPEG layer 3), video, photos, etc.
In particular, with the convergence of high technology such as home network technology and advanced technology-based devices, a service by which the users can easily receive and consume content within a specific zone anytime is the general tendency.
However, a case where a handover or roaming between wireless nodes is not supported may frequently occur in the home network. Because zones covered by the wireless nodes may be discretely formed, multimedia data transfer is cut off when the MS is moved to a new location while receiving multimedia data through a PC (Personal Computer), etc. provided in the home network. For this reason, an effective multimedia data service cannot be provided.
A case where a MS located within a wireless zone covered by a first wireless node is moved to a wireless zone covered by a second wireless node will be described. In this case, no handover or roaming technology is supported between the wireless nodes.
When the MS coupled to a network and a server through the first wireless node exits the first wireless zone in the course of receiving the multimedia data from the server, the connection between the MS and the first wireless node is cut off. Even though the MS is moved to the wireless zone of the second wireless node, because no handover or roaming technology is supported between the wireless nodes, it cannot continuously receive data subsequent to already received data. That is, an MS moved to the wireless zone of the second wireless node must establish a new connection with the second wireless node and the server so that data can be transferred.
When the MS is moved to a new location, because no handover or roaming technology between wireless nodes is supported, data transfer is cut off. In this case, multimedia data to be reproduced or content to be downloaded is cut off, such that a user is inconvenienced. There is a problem in that the MS must make a data retransmission request after establishing a new connection with the other wireless node to which the MS is moved.